Measuring the reach and effectiveness of the League of Ireland’s ‘More than a Club’ Initiative( Ref: WD_2024_03_WSCH_SPONS)

Post summary

The Football Association of Ireland’s (FAI) ‘More than a Club’ initiative delivers a range of interventions (e.g. walking football, football numeracy, mental health awareness, football memories) with a view to enhancing the wellbeing of vulnerable subpopulations within the community such as (e.g. marginalised groups, older adults, children with autism spectrum disorder). Currently the initiative is being implemented in five League of Ireland Football Clubs. The approach recognises the value of the ‘settings based’ approach to health promotion and the need to realise the potential and value of sports clubs to engage vulnerable populations and create meaningful changes in health and wellbeing. Despite the potential benefits of these interventions, they are underdeveloped and scarcely implemented due to a host of contextual factors and with the initiative in its infancy, there has been limited evaluation to date. This evaluation will employ a mixed method, participatory research approach guided by implementation science to evaluate what impact the initiative has had on health and wellbeing and also how the delivery of the programme might be improved if FITC was rolled out across the rest of the League of Ireland clubs. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to experience the facilitation of these community based physical activity and health promotion programmes by working closely with both the programme facilitators and participants. The mixed methods research design will include designing and administering questionnaires to programme participants and community stakeholders, interviews and focus groups with participants, facilitators and co-ordinators and observation of the programme delivery.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

·      Honours Degree (minimum 2:1) in the discipline areas of Health and Exercise Science, Physical Activity, Health Promotion and Public Health, Adapted Physical Activity, Sport and Exercise Science, Social Care, Sport and Recreation Management, Community Development or related areas

Desirable

·      Driving license

Knowledge & Experience

Essential

·        Previous research experience and understanding of both quantitative and qualitative research processes and methods

·       Understanding of community based physical activity programmes

·       Understanding of community based physical activity programmes for specific population groups; children, older adults, people with a disability, marginalised groups, people living with chronic disease

Desirable

       Practical experience of facilitating community based physical activity programmes for specific population groups; children, older adults, people with a disability, marginalised groups, people living with chronic disease

 Skills & Competencies

Essential

·       Applicants whose first language is not English must submit evidence of competency in English, please see SETU’s English Language Requirements for details.

·       Excellent communication (written and verbal) and analytical skills

·       The candidate must be highly motivated and self-directed with good time and project management skills

·       The candidate must have excellent inter-personal skills

·       The candidate must have excellent academic writing and analytical skills

·       The candidate must be able to work effectively within a team

Desirable

·       Previous experience of scholarly output (scholarly publishing, conference or thesis presentations).